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Looking beyond the M4

As the Army scales back on its M4 carbine buys, the service’s top official said Thursday it’s time to look for the next carbine soldiers will carry into battle.

Secretary of the Army Pete Geren’s comments set the tone for the small arms industry day that drew 19 companies from across the country to Washington, D.C., with the hope of replacing the service’s M4 carbine.

“Today is an important step in an effort to ensure that our soldiers always have the best,” Geren said. “Not just the best today, but the best tomorrow.”

The Army-sponsored event is the result of a “request for information” the service put out in August to assess what the U.S. small arms industry is capable of producing.

The Army purchased of the remaining balance of 473,000 M4s Wednesday, which will be delivered over the next two years, Geren said.

“That completes the Army acquisition objective for the M4,” Geren said, adding that the service would continue to buy the M4 in reduced quantities to maintain adequate replacements as needed.

The M4 is the Army’s primary individual weapon. For more than a year, it has been the subject of increased scrutiny by lawmakers on Capitol Hill concerned about whether soldiers have the best available weapon.

Geren said the goal of the event is to help the Army determine what is “achievable in terms of carbine technology.”

This is the first step toward a carbine competition the Army intends to open next year after Colt Defense LLC, the company that makes the M4, turns over the weapon’s technical data rights in June 2009. When that happens, the Army will have the opportunity to improve the M4 or buy a new carbine.

Geren has directed the Army to update its requirement for a carbine to reflect the current and future needs of soldiers.

The new requirement is scheduled to be completed by the end of the calendar year and approved by next summer, said Col. Doug Tamilio, Program Executive Office Soldier’s project manager for Soldier Weapons.

Provided that the new carbine requirement is approved and funding is available, the Army will issue a formal request for proposal for a new carbine to gun makers late next year, Tamilio said.